Miraculous: Shadow's Adventures in Paris
by White Fire the Dragon
Summary: A few slice of life stories of Shadow living with Marinette and her friends.
1. Episode 1

**Shadow meets Manón**

Shadow was sitting on a park bench, reading a book that he found to be quite enjoyable.

" _Huh_. So Tybalt killed Mercutio. It makes sense, but I still never would've guessed that someone like Mercutio would have so much courage." Shadow verbally commented.

"C'mon, Marinette!" He heard someone call. "I want to ride on the merry-go-round!"

The voice sounded like it belonged to a little girl. What really caught his attention was the name the voice mentioned.

"Please, slow down, Manón." Shadow heard Marinette's voice say in reply.

Shadow looked up and saw Marinette before him. In front of her, dragging her around by the arm, was indeed a little girl. She looked to be around Cream the Rabbit's age, only far more energetic. She pulled, hopped around and giggled… a lot. Shadow raised an eyebrow at this as they passed by him. Marinette didn't seem to notice him because her eyes were closed as she struggled to keep the little girl from getting to far ahead.

"Marinette?" He said, gaining both girls' attentions.

"Shadow!" She responded with a smile while the little girl ran behind her leg. "It's great to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Sabine said I could borrow this book," Shadow raised the book up for all to see, "so I came out here so I could read it."

"Oh, I love that book!"

"So far, so do I."

Marinette smiled in response to his complement, but then remembered something important.

"Oh, I almost forgot." She stepped aside and kneeled down to keep an arm around the little girl with her. "Shadow, this is Manón. Manón, say hello to Shadow."

Shadow stared at the younger human for a few seconds before she started talking.

" _(giggle)_ You have funny hair." She giggled while pointing at his head.

"Manón! That is very rude! Say you're sorry!" Marinette told her as Shadow looked up, curiously.

"I'm sorry." Manón said to Shadow.

Marinette scratched her head in embarassment.

"Sorry, You know how kids are." She said to him.

Shadow, who had only ever been acquainted with children who were at least old enough to know how to tie their shoes in under two and a half minutes, just went right back to his reading.

Suddenly, a buzzing and a ringing came to their ears. Marinette pulled out her phone and saw an alarm on it that she had previously set earlier that day.

"Oh, no! I totally forgot about a delivery today!" She then started going into a nervous fit. "I need to go deliver it, but I can't leave Manón here alone and I doubt she'll want to come _with_ me to make a pastry delivery!"

Just then, she remembered something and turned to her naturally super-powered friend.

"Shadow, I need to go off real quick! Can you **please** watch Manón while I'm gone!" Marinette put her hands together in a begging manor while Shadow just kept reading, only barely listening to a word that she was saying.

"Sure. Whatever." He said in response, not fully understanding what he had just agreed to.

"Great! Thank you so much!" She said before pushing Manón in front of Shadow and hurrying on her way. "Bye, Manón. Be good!"

"Huh?" Shadow said as the conversation finally started to sink in. "Hey, wait!"

"Bye, Shadow! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Marinette called before dissappearing from sight.

"Marinette, wait!" He called after her, getting up and moving forward a few feet. "I'm not… great with… kids!"

He shouted that, but it only grew more quiet as he started to realize that it was hopeless. And so, with a sigh of defeat and a drop of his head, Shadow turned around to face the little girl. For a few seconds, he just stared at her with a blank expression.

"Who are _you_? I want Marinette!" Manón declared.

Shadow sighed once again, thinking that this was going to be annoying… but then, he got an idea and perked up a bit before looking at her with a look of confident cleverness.

"Hey, Manón." She looked at him curiously. "Want to learn how to fly?"

She instantly perked up at this.

* * *

Marinette soon came back to the park in a hurry. She stopped before Shadow, who was still reading his book, huffing in exhaustion. She took a few moments to catch her breath before speaking.

"Shadow, I'm sorry I took so long. I locked myself out, and I forgot where I left the key and then I…" She stopped talking when she noticed something important. "Shadow, where's Manón?! You were supposed to watch her!"

Shadow stopped her by placing a single hand in front of her face and then pointing up. She looked up, and her face suddenly became the **definition** of the words "terrified" and "panic". Her face resembled that of Edvard Munch's The Scream, though all that came from her mouth was a loud gasp. She looked up and saw Manón in freefall, saying "WEEEEEEEEEE…" on the way down.

"SHADOW, ARE YOU CRAZY?! HOLD ON, MANÓN! I'LL CATCH Y—"

Once again, her outburst was stopped by Shadow with the raise of a hand. She blinked as Shadow got up, looked at the red plate on his wrist that appeared to be switched to some kind of stopwatch mode, and it was close to zero. Shadow then raised his hand, his palm facing the sky, and as soon as Manón reached them, she was caught by the suspenders of her overalls, resulting in her bouncing a few times as if they were bungee cords, before calming down.

"Again, again!" She said, bouncing a little by her suspenders as she kicked her legs and threw her arms in excitement.

"No, not again!" Marinette told her.

"Awwwww…!" Manón said in disappointment.

Marinette then turned her attention to Shadow, who just lowered his hand before dropping the little girl on her feet, giving him quite a glaring scowl,

"Problem?" He casually asked as if nothing was wrong.

"What were you thinking?! Did you teleport her 100 feet into the air?!"

"Of course not. A human her size couldn't handle that, and I wasn't teleporting… I just threw her about 30 feet into the air… a couple of times since you left."

"It was fun!" Manón added as Marinette's widened. "He taught me how to fly!"

Marinette then got all up in his face, her glaring scowl returning anew.

"You were using your powers in **front** of her?!" Marinette asked him incredulously.

"Relax." Said Shadow. "I told her to keep her eyes closed the whole time or else it wouldn't work. And even if she _did_ see anything, it's not like she'll even remember it when she's older. If anything, she'll think she just imagined the whole thing."

His statement mixed with the casual grin that he gave her didn't really help calm Marinette's anger. She then took Manón by the hand and led her away.

"Alright, Manón, it's time to go."

"Awwww…" Manón whined.

"Say goodbye to Shadow." Manón turned around and waved goodbye to him as Marinette led her away. "C'mon, let's go on that merry-go-round."

"Yeah!" Manón's smile grew as she jumped up and down in excitement.

"Um, Marinette?" Shadow called to her as she walked away. "You know I would never actually hurt her, right? It was just a game."

She did not respond.

"Marinette?!"

Still, she ignored him.

"Hey, come back! I'm sorry! Really!" As he said that, he ran to catch up with her and Manón as they made their way to the merry-go-round.

The End.


	2. Episode 2

**Shadow's Adventures in Paris** **:**

 **D.J. Dojo**

Shadow and Nino were tasked by Master Fu to watch his place while he and Wayzz went out to get some things that they needed. While they were there, they soon came across an old room where everything was covered in dustcovers. After removing the dustcovers, it was revealed that the old room was in fact a dojo. While Shadow was checking out the equipment, Nino was hatching an idea. Soon, he had his portable turntables set up.

"Dude, the acoustics in here are perfect for rehearsal."

"Uh-huh." Shadow responded simply, approaching a punching bag. "I just wish I had known about this place **sooner**. Would've saved me a lot of angst."

"Heh. Yeah, I getcha."

"This would have been a much less **messy** way to blow off steam."

Nino looked at him curiously.

"Wait, how exactly **do** you 'blow off steam'?"

Shadow smirked and got into a battle ready stance before the punching bag.

"Like this."

Shadow followed up his statement by delivering a strong enough punch to the bag, knocking it off of its chain. It landed about three feet away from where it once hung. Nino spent almost three seconds staring.

"Dude… that is kinda scary." But then, he suddenly brightened up in realization and looked at his turntables. "But gives me a wicked idea."

After flipping some switches and turning some nobs, a pretty nice hip-hop beat was playing. Nino then placed his hands on the platters.

"Okay," Nino said to Shadow, "now punch something, dude."

* * *

This would probably be enjoyed best if you listen to some D.J. music while you're reading it.

* * *

Shadow found this to be odd, but nevertheless, he faced a practice dummy and punched it. At the same time, Nino pulled the platters and unleashed some record scratches that were in perfect sync with not only Shadow's punch's impact, but also with the dummy's when it broke of its stand and even when it hit ground. Suddenly, Shadow understood. He looked at the all of the equipment in the room as the music played. With his head bobbing to the beat, he rushed forward and delivered another punch and destroyed another piece equipment. At the same time, Nino performed another record scratch with his turntables. Shadow, in tune with the music, punched, then punched, then punched and then twisted his body and kicked, then jumped and twisted again, landing on the foot that he had just kicked with so that he could kick with his other foot.

As the song continued to play, Shadow punched and kicked while Nino scratched in perfect sync with Shadow's actions. Shadow even ran up a wall, kicked off, flipped and landed on his feet, ground pounding the floor. Shadow then back flipped a few times before jumping up and spinning with his legs out perpendicular to his body and jets in his shoes igniting, unleashing fire as he spun. He then pulled one leg in, stopping the fire coming from it, and brought his other foot, still flaming, down. After flame-stomp-kicking the floor, he bent backwards and pushed up with his hands and then performed a spin-kick. Then he straightened up and ran in other direction. He jumped up and as he came down, he turned his body, his fist cutting through the air until it hit, followed by a downward kick.

Shadow straightened up, twisted with his fist out, glowing green. He unleashed a burst of chaos energy from his hand. He then punched boxing-style a few times before kicking repeatedly with one leg and then switching with his other leg to unleash more kicks. Then he punched again, and again, and again. Then he kicked again, and again, and again. Then he kicked, and then punched, and kicked, and then punched, and then kicked, and punched. And as the song came to a close, Shadow finished it up by jumping high and then punching the ground like a meteor.

" _Hmph_. Perfect." Shadow said as he straightened up and loosened his joints.

"Dude, that was totally sick!" Nino exclaimed excitedly.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening caught their attention.

"Boys?! We're back." They heard Master Fu's voice call.

"Everything had better be the way we left it!" They heard Wayzz's voice call.

Nino and Shadow looked around and saw everything: the walls, ceiling, the floor, the equipment: wood, stone or even metal; everything was destroyed. There was even some fire.

"… Uh-oh." Said Nino.

And fade to black before Shadow even has a chance to verbally express his discontent.

The End.


	3. Episode 3

**Shadow's Adventures in Paris** **:**

 **Boulangerie Patisserie High Speed Deliverie**

 **(disregard the misspelling)**

Shadow had just walked into the bakery only to find Tom and Sabine arguing about something.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Shadow asked out of worry.

"Oh! Nothing, Shadow. Don't worry yourself with it." Said Sabine.

"Yeah. I was just about to go out and make some deliveries." Said Tom.

"You mean _I_ was just about to go make the deliveries."

"You've been working all day."

"Well, so have you. Even more so, I'd say."

"I'm perfectly fine. _I_ can take care of it while _you_ take the rest of the day off."

"You looked like you were going to faint not too long ago. I can take care of the deliveries while _you_ rest."

"Why don't _I_ do it?" Shadow announced out of the blue. "I can make the deliveries."

"Oh, Shadow, you're our guest here. We couldn't ask you to do that." Said Sabine.

"I haven't done much today. I'm feeling perfectly fine."

"But we have got a **lot** of orders here." Said Tom, gesturing to the large pile of boxed baked goods beside him. "Odds are, most of them won't be delivered on time."

"Trust me, Tom. I have the energy, strength, stamina and **speed**. I can probably do this far better than either of you could." Shadow did not eve give them the option to refuse as he walked over to them and picked up the list of orders and addresses from the counter and then the large pile of boxes. He then proceeded to separate the pile into two towers of boxes, one in each hand, before walking away with ease. "You can both relax here. I'll take care of it."

"Well, okay." Sabine, despite feeling unsure, did not argue with him on this. "But promise you'll call us if something happens or you run into trouble."

"I don't have a cell phone." He said bluntly.

"Here, take mine." Tom said as he approached Shadow to drop his phone into Shadow's backpack. "Call Sabine if anything goes wrong."

Shadow agreed and exited the building. He walked around the building so that he was hidden from sight and teleported to Marinette's balcony. He set the boxes down, pulled out his map of Paris, looked at the list and found the location. From there, it was all a matter of… well, "when" and "how" weren't really an issue. It was all really just a matter of using chaos to freeze the box and everything inside in a bubble of time distortion so that nothing would be damaged and going to where he needed to go, which he accomplished in a matter of seconds.

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

* * *

 _ **Penny**_? Sorry, it's the dork/nerd in me.

* * *

Nadja Chamack opened the door and smiled when she saw Shadow.

"Boulangerie Patisserie." Shadow announced when the door opened without so much as a smile.

"Oh hello." She took the box when Shadow offered it to her and handed him the money. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. You know, you got here so fast. I think I might just—"

"Thank you, enjoy the rest of your day." He said with no enthusiasm before leaving while her back was turned.

Nadja was confused and tried to call him back so that she could give him a tip for bringing her order to her so quickly, but when she looked around the corner of her door, he was gone. This just confused her more, but in the end, she guessed that he was just busy. Back at the balcony, Shadow checked the list and grabbed the next box. The next delivery went to a woman who had a baby in her arms. The baby was dressed in a white and purple striped onesie and was enthusiastically reaching for the box. The next delivery went to an enthusiastic owner of the ice rink. Shadow left before he could make him an offer to take ice skating lessons. The next one went to the pigeon man he met when he first came to this world. He happily shared his treats with the hungry birds as he ate. The one went to André, the ice cream man. Every time he would see the person whom he was delivering to, he would say "Boulangerie Patisserie", hand them their order, take the money, tell them "Thank you, enjoy the rest of their day" and then leave without another word.

Finally, he had only one delivery left, but it was actually composed of several boxes. Once he had arrived at the location, he looked upon the many stories of the tall building known only as The Grand Paris Hotel. Once this was accomplished, he walked up to the front door only to be stopped by the doorman.

"Um, excuse me, young man. Can I help you with something?" The doorman said that with more condescendence than anything else.

"Boulangerie Patisserie. Delivery for Chloé Bourgeois." He said bluntly.

"I'm sorry, but the Grand Paris Hotel has been closed off from the public due to renovations. Please leave and comeback later."

"If this place is under renovations, then why isn't the front door blocked off with wooden barricades? And why doesn't there seem to be any construction company trucks parked around here?"

"I don't have time to waste on childish questions. Go away before I call the police."

Shadow walked away annoyed and mumbled something under his breath in English. Once Shadow was out of eyesight, the doorman pulled out his vibrating phone and answered it.

"Hello…? Yes, madam. Just as you said; although, it wasn't that Dupain-Cheng girl you mentioned. It was some boy with black and red hair… Yes…? No, I did not allow him entry… Well, I hope you enjoy your soon-to-be-free desert. I will call you soon enough."

With that, the person whom the doorman was talking to hung up and he put his phone back into his pocket. That was when he heard the sound of the hotel elevator's bell, signaling that it had arrived at the lobby. What he didn't know was that while he was talking on the phone, Shadow had teleported into the lobby behind him. Luckily, there was no one in said lobby, so no one saw him warp in. When the doorman turned around, that was when he saw someone in a red motorcycle helmet enter the elevator with several boxes.

"H-hey, wait!" He exclaimed as he ran inside and made his way to the elevator. "Security! Stop that boy!"

Two hotel security guards came into the room, running toward the elevator at full speed. Shadow remained unfazed as he pushed the button, his back still to them. The staff were too late, for the doors closed shut and the elevator began its ascent. The doorman told them to hurry their way to the floor where Chloé waited, and so, up the staircase they climbed; meanwhile, Shadow, who had removed the foul smelling helmet, was finding the elevator to be moving too slow.

Once the staff made it to the floor, they waited for the elevator to stop and open. That was when they saw that the elevator was completely empty, save for one red motorcycle helmet that smelled like garbage. The doorman entered the elevator and examined the helmet, but he was soon caught off guard when the two security guards behind him tumbled into him, knocking him to the floor. As soon as all three of them were clear of the doors, that was when they heard a "ding" sound. The doorman turned around just as the doors closed on them and saw the emergency "close door" button lit up, thus revealing that it had been pushed.

Shadow saw the doors close and as an extra precaution to ensure that they wouldn't bother him further, used his chaos powers to mess with the elevator controls, making the buttons inoperable for anyone. Meanwhile, Chloé and Sabrina were both laughing over Chloé's latest little prank/plan to get a free desert.

"Thanks to that 'renovation' excuse, now no one can get in. Now, all we have to do is wait until their time is up and we get a free **treat** thanks to _my_ little **trick**!" Chloé laughed.

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

Her laughter was soon brought to a halt by the sudden knocking on her door.

" _Ugh_. Who is it?" Chloé complained.

"Boulangerie Patisserie." Hearing this, as well as Shadow's voice, made the two girls nervous. "Delivery for Chloé Bourgeois."

"Um. W-We're not here!" Said Sabrina, making Chloé slap her forehead.

"Then who is this?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

"Um… A recording?"

"Recordings don't answer back like that. Open the door and come pay for these."

Chloé leaned close to whisper something into Sabrina's ear.

"If we're quiet and don't open the door, then he won't finish the delivery." Suddenly, they saw door knob started to jiggle and the door opened.

"Hello?" Shadow (after mentally thanking Rouge for teaching him that trick) looked around the room and saw that it appeared to be empty.

In his mind, so long as he didn't actually **enter** the room, it wasn't really breaking and **entering**. Since he didn't see anyone, he just decided to walk away from the doorway, but didn't close the door so that he could keep looking into the room encase something moved, but nothing did. After the sound of his footsteps faded, Chloé and Sabrina came out of hiding. Chloé then grabbed Sabrina's hand ran to the door. She looked around the hallway, but tried her best to keep herself hidden encase Shadow was still around. When she didn't see him, she pulled Sabrina with her to the elevator. When the buttons didn't work, she pulled her around the corner to the other elevator. They heard a "ding" followed by a voice.

"Hello? Boulangerie Patisserie!" Shadow called from inside of the elevator.

Out of panic, Sabrina pulled Chloé into the stairwell just before the door opened and they both ran down the stairs. They heard the door open above them.

"Boulangerie Patisserie!" He called.

They went through a door and walked into the kitchen. They heard the stairwell door open and hid. Shadow entered the kitchen and Chloé and Sabrina held their breath.

"Boulangerie Patisserie." He said as he walked past the table that they were currently hiding under.

They waited until he left and ran for the stairwell. Once they reached ground level, they thought that they were home free, but then they saw Shadow in the lobby, standing between them and the front doors (he had just finished up "tending" to the hotel security cameras to ensure that his secret was still secret). At first, the two girls were hidden from him and thought that they could sneak past him while his back was turned. Just when they were about to put their plan into action, something most unfortunate transpired.

" _Atchoo_!" Sabrina sneezed.

Shadow turned his around and caught a glimpse of red hair disappearing behind a door. He dashed up to it and slammed his fist on the door.

"Boulangerie Patisserie!" He shouted through the door.

Chloé and Sabrina were actually getting scared at this point and ran up the stairs to the next floor. There, they called down the only working elevator and ran inside.

" _Grrr_ … What is his problem?! Why doesn't he just go away?!" Chloé asked in frustration.

"Well, at least we're safe now." Said Sabrina.

They started to calm down until they heard the sound of knocking growing louder. Chloé and Sabrina's eyes widened in fear as they slowly looked up.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No." Chloé repeated.

"Boulangerie Patisserie!" They heard.

That was enough for Chloé to want to get out of their fast. She pushed the emergency "door open" button. The elevator stopped half-way past the most resent floor and two girls dropped down… Well, actually, Sabrina dropped down first and Chloé ordered her to catch her. Instead, what happed was that when she was coming down after, Sabrina was having trouble holding Chloé up (along with the weight of her ego) when she tried to catch her and the cold blonde girl ended up falling on top of the, far too loyal, redhead.

"You okay, Chloé?" Sabrina asked groggily.

" _(growl)_ Forget it! Let's just hide!" Chloé said in anger.

"Where?! He's everywhere!"

"The roof! There's only one way there! If we block it, he won't get to us!"

"Oh! Good idea, Chloé."

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

"Boulangerie Patisserie!"

This followed by the sound of a door creaking open repeated over and over. The girls could hear the sound of talking for a second or three before the door closed in some cases, while in others, there was no conversation. He was just getting closer and closer. The girls quietly entered the stairwell and climbed up the stairs as fast as they could. After a few minutes, they reached the roof, blocked the door with a pool chair and hid. After another two minutes, Chloé thought that they were in the clear.

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

"Boulangerie Patisserie!" Shadow repeated these actions over and over again

The girls held their breath, they were so scared. But then, as Sabrina clung to Chloé for dear life, the spoiled rich girl caught sight of something that she never noticed before, her best friend's wrist watch. When she read the time, a smile spread out across her face as she lit up. She then got up and approached the door, despite how much her best friend tried to warn her. Chloé then reached out and opened the door, revealing Shadow, staring at her with an annoyed expression.

"Are you finally ready to own up and pay for this?" He asked her with a low growl.

"Actually, I'm not!" She gloated. "You're out of time! So that means, this order is **free**!"

She laughed in his face while Sabrina tried to get her attention. Shadow placed the boxes down and reached into his backpack. He pulled out Tom's phone and turned it on to look at the time. After reading it, he spoke up with a sneer.

"Actually, I still have a whole minute left." Chloé stopped laughing. "So you **do** have to pay me."

"What?! But Sabrina's watch says—!"

" **That's** what I was trying to tell you Chloé!" Sabrina spoke up, interrupting her best friend. "This is my **dad's** watch. It's **broken**! He wanted me to get it fixed on the way home today."

"So then… that means…" Chloé said in disbelief.

Shadow then held out his hand and asked for a specific amount, which she had no choice but to pay.

* * *

Later, Shadow arrived back at the bakery, and handed Tom and Sabine all of the money that he collected on his deliveries.

"I don't know how you did it, Shadow, but you did!" Tom said gladly with a big smile on his face.

"And so quickly, too. Shadow, I have no words. You did amazing!" Sabine said with pride with just as big a smile on her face.

"I'm happy to help." Said Shadow. His smile was smaller, but his sincerity was just as plentiful.

The sound of the bell ringing overhead caught their attention, and they looked to see Marinette rush in through the door.

"I'm sorry I'm late! But I'm here now and ready to help with the deliveries." She stated proudly.

"Actually, that won't be necessary, Marinette." Said Tom.

"Shadow already took care of them." Said Sabine.

"Really?! Even that one order from Chloé?!" Asked Marinette.

"Actually, her delivery was surprisingly easy." Shadow said.

"Wow! That's pretty incredible, Shadow." Marinette praised as she hugged him, making him blush.

"Thank you, so much for your help today!" Said Sabine, wrapping her own arms around the two teens, followed by Tom completing the hug.

Shadow blushed in embarrassment, but he still couldn't help but smile.

"Hm. You're welcome."


	4. Episode 4

**Shadow's Adventures in Paris** **:**

 **Kim Conundrum**

The bell rang and Shadow was finishing up his notes while Ms. Bustier informed them of the homework assignment for the day. Shadow wrote it down on a side note where he wrote down homework assignments. He still found school work to be pointless, but if he didn't put in even a _little_ effort, then the school might look into his "old school" which doesn't exist. As soon as he was done and Ms. Bustier had left the classroom, Shadow looked across the aisle and saw Kim, the resident jock, arm-wrestling with Alix, the resident speedster/roller-skate specialist. After a minute or two, Kim had won and was now cheering victoriously. Shadow rolled his eyes at this as he placed his supplies into his backpack.

"Hey, Shadow!" He heard Kim call. "How about you and me go a round?"

" _(hmph)_ …" Was **all** of the acknowledgement that _Shadow_ was willing to give as he passed by.

Later at the end of chemistry, Kim rushed up to Shadow and dropped his elbow down onto his desk.

"You and me! Let's go!" Kim said confidently.

Shadow gave him a sideways glance and fought the urge to knock him away with one swing of his arm. Instead, he settled for just turning on the Bunsen burner gas for a split second and then leaving Kim to sputter and cough at the gas. As art class was nearing its end, Kim had scooted a stool behind Shadow who was just waiting in front of a canvas with nothing but a few brush strokes of red acrylic paint (when it came to art, he possessed more of an aptitude for the **culinary** arts rather than other art forms).

"One match! Winner takes all!" He declared, dropping his elbow onto the table next to them.

Shadow's only acknowledgment of his existence came in the form of him picking up his brush and without even so much as **glancing** over his shoulder, reaching back and striking Kim across the face with his art tool twice, leaving behind a big, red "X". In study hall, Kim carefully scooted his desk closer to Shadow's and used a large text book to hide his face and arm, with which, he assumed the position.

"C'mon! Let's do it!" Kim whispered excitedly.

Shadow then proceeded to drop _his_ book, stand up and walk straight to the door.

"Mr. Robotnik, where are you going?!" The teacher asked angrily. "Study hall isn't over! Either sit back down or go to the principal's office!"

"Where do you think I'm **going**?" Shadow responded out of annoyance making his friends either sigh, face-palm, or both _(in Marinette's case)_.

At lunch, Nathaniel was telling Marinette and others about his latest comic book design. Shadow was impressed with his skills with a pencil, but he wasn't really paying any attention to the conversation going on around him. His mind was currently off in space only to be brought back down to Earth when Kim walked up to them and slammed his elbow on the lunch table, causing all of the lunch trays to bounce off of said table. Fortunately, no food was spilled, but Shadow's patience was wearing thinner and thinner with every encounter.

"Arm-wrestle! Right here! Right now!" Kim announced.

"Seriously?!" Questioned Alya.

"You know it's taking all of my mental willpower not to throw you in a locker and leave you there." Said Shadow.

"Shadow!" Marinette warned.

"Kim, can't you see that Shadow isn't interested in arm-wrestling?" Said Nathaniel.

"He thinks he's stronger than me, I can tell." Said Kim. "All I'm asking for is just **one** match to prove who's best."

"That **one** match might just be your **last** match, but if you keep **pestering** me, you won't be able to make it to your next _class_ , because you'll be too busy sleeping with the—!"

" _Shadow_!" Marinette warned once again.

" _(sigh)_ Look, bottom line is, bug off and find someone else to annoy."

Kim scowled at Shadow, who just turned his head and tried to act as though Kim didn't even exist at the moment. Alix, who was watching the whole exchange from across the cafeteria, now came over with Max, both appearing at Kim's sides.

"We get it, Shadow." She said, confusing everyone. "I'd be scared too if _I_ stood as little chance of success as _you_."

Shadow's eyes widened when he heard her claim.

"What?" He questioned, only glancing in their direction.

"She has a point." Said Max, pulling out his phone to run some calculations. "Statistically, according to muscle mass and comparing the amount of time Kim spends physically training on a daily basis to the same amount of time _you_ spend reading and writing down notes, your chances of success in a single match with him are… _hmmm_ … less than 35%."

"You lack sufficient data to properly calculate an accurate probability percentage. Or in Laymen's terms; you don't know jack-squat, so shut up."

"Well, I guess we'll never know for sure." Said Alix. "We'll just have to assume that that Kim's stronger than you."

Kim then gave Shadow a smug grin that made his blood boil.

" **One** match and then we're through?"

"If you're up for it." Kim confirmed, placing his elbow on the table.

" _(hmph)_ Fine." Shadow said as he placed his elbow down on the table and grasped Kim's hand in a firm grip.

"Are you serious right now?" Asked Alya.

Max, acting as the referee, grabbed hold of the two joined hands.

"Alright, on three." He said. "One. Two. **Three**!"

 _ **THUD**_

"I win. C'mon, guys. Let's go." Shadow said, getting up with his tray.

"Hey! Wait! I didn't think you were going start _that_ quickly!" Kim exclaimed.

"I won the match. Now leave me alone."

"It's not fair unless I really try! You don't want to win because I didn't try, do you?"

Shadow gave another sigh, sat back down and readied his hand. Kim did the same and the next match was all set to begin.

"On three." Max said. "One. Two. **Three**!"

 _This_ time, Kim started immediately when Max said "Three". After a few seconds, it had become undeniably clear that Shadow's arm wasn't going to move unless he wanted it to.

 _ **THUD**_

Once again, Shadow won. Before Kim could ask for a rematch, Shadow got up and left the table with his tray, not even bothering to wait for anyone else. Nobody said a word for a five, whole, awkward seconds.

"Well, I guess that's that." Said Alya.

And so, she and the others got up and left Max, Kim and Alix behind as the three of them tried to figure out what had just happened. Later after school, Shadow had just exited the building only to run into none other than Kim and Max.

"Hey, Shadow! How 'bout a race?!" He challenged.

"How 'bout no?" Shadow answered.

"C'mon! One time, around the school!"

"I'd rather throw you, headfirst, into a garbage can."

"Oh, so you won't race me. Guess you're nothing but a chicken!"

" _(ugh)_ How immature. Fine, if it'll get you to shut up."

Again, Max served as referee.

"On your mark! Get set! GO!" He exclaimed, and they were off.

While Kim was giving all that he had into his sprint, Shadow was simply taking his time, maintaining a steady pace with him in the form of a leisurely speeded trot, not even bothering to remove his hands from his pockets. As Kim saw how his opponent gave little to no effort and was still somehow managing to keep pace with him, he came to an immediate decision and put in far more than what his body had to give. He pushed way beyond his physical limitations and bolted for the finish line.

Shadow, on the other hand, didn't even need to use the jets in his air shoes. His own natural speed offered to him by his hedgehog side provided him with all of the speed that he needed, even for something as minor as a footrace with an ordinary human child. In the end, he won by a whole body and Kim collapsed onto the cement face first. Everyone who was around to see the end of the race circled his body as he raised his head and grabbed his aching nose before making an announcement.

"Rematch!"

"Not a chance, loser." Shadow responded.

"Shadow!" Marinette exclaimed out of disapproval.

"I didn't mean it as an insult. I was just stating a fact. He lost the race, ergo, he's the 'loser'."

"Oh yeah?! _(pant) (pant)_ " Kim retorted, repositioning himself onto his bottom. "Well, _(pant) (pant)_ I know there's _(pant) (pant)_ **something** I'm _(pant) (pant)_ better than you at! _(pant) (pant)_ "

"[Well, you're definitely better at **losing**. That's for sure.]" Shadow mumbled, still gaining a disapproving glare from Marinette (she didn't know what he said, but she knew that it was insulting).

And so, they partook in various athletic sports and games; all of which, Shadow prevailed in. He outswam Kim in a swimming race (he basically moved his feet like a motor). He out-cycled Kim in a bicycle race around the Arc de Triomphe. He overpowered Kim in a weight lifting competition. He even bested Kim in a yoga competition… Well, actually, it was more like they **both** lost that one, but Shadow lasted longer at twisting his body into and out of a pretzel before collapsing onto his yoga mat in agonizing pain. **Multiple** pretzels of various shapes, that is, often asking himself why he was even doing this if not just to suffer alongside this complex-ridden-fool for someone's twisted entertainment.

In the end, Shadow was packing it up and preparing to head home with Marinette.

"Did _that_ provide you with sufficient data?" Shadow asked Max as he looked over Kim to make sure he wasn't too burned out that it would warrant medical attention.

"Shadow! That was awesome!" Expressed Alix as she followed them. "How'd you get so good at all that stuff?!"

"Every year, I train for the Olympics." This made Kim raise his head in shock. "Summer _and_ Winter."

Kim dropped his head back into the ground as the reality of the situation finally set in. Max called his name, but Kim just groaned due to his physical pain and wounded pride.


End file.
